Monday, November 18, 2013

Mon Nov 18th Todays News

Notice, tomorrow I will be unable to produce a column. I'll still produce a birthday listing.

I'm not ashamed of having failed. Only if I hadn't tried. I must vacate my premises soon so the decontaminators can load it with poison gas .. they call it a bio sweep .. Visitors will be welcome when I get back .. but I won't have the books, DVDs, videos, CDs and such. Then in coming weeks I'll get new carpet, new paint and maybe a new owner? Be blessed, my friends. Know that God loves you even when you don't feel it. I surrender my past, but will fight for my future. If asked, my public agenda is to establish a high tech production studio in Cabramatta Fairfield. It is to allow locals to film in HD broadcast ready material, be it cultural performances, martial arts or international needs. I hope to allow it to be accessible for local schools to send kids to learn production broadcast techniques and to maintain a digital cultural museum. Making money by showing/licensing use of clips. I know lots of people involved in MMA who might benefit from having steady work. There is a market for clips. And clips can be converted to features .. I have never yet lost a fight to the death. I may one day, but being a quick learner, it won't happen twice.

Syrian justice is not ahead of the rest of the world. Julia Gillard was indeed treated to a double standard, and still is, by the fawning media. Global Warming activists gather in Sydney, sending temperatures tumbling and bringing flooding rains. Did Flannery make a prediction recently? Is Gore in town? Who was the worse PM, Rudd or Gillard. We might never know for certain, each having impeccable credentials, but whomever it is, is probably the worst thus far. Apologies to Whitlam who probably felt his position was unassailable.
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Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns Peter Dutton and Lucy O'Callaghan. Born on the same day, across the years, along with 
Matches
Despatches
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HEADLESS BODY, ALLAHU AKBAR

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (5:22am)

It’s probably just an occupational hazard for those in the head-chopping caper. When you’re out there every day busily carving away at infidels and other betrayers of the faith, all heads must eventually look the same.
So it’s no surprise when the occasional routine slaughter goes awry. 
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TRUST JULIA? SURE CAN’T

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (4:54am)

Before Julia Gillard broke her “no carbon tax” promise to Australians, she broke an agreement with then-PM Kevin Rudd: 
In their meeting, Gillard agreed to give Rudd three months to turn around the government’s fortunes. But she interrupted the meeting to step into a small private room within the prime minister’s suite. She checked in with her numbers group and learned that she had a majority. She emerged to tell Rudd the deal was off. 
In light of this, please enjoy the recent celebration of Julia presented by the ill-named Victorian Women’s Trust. 
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WARMIES BRING THE COLD

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (4:39am)

It’s a well-known fact that the temperature immediately drops whenever climate activists gather to protest. Yesterday’s National Day of Climate Action saw the usual alarmists all rugged up and shivering against the cold in a Sydney park. As the ABC put it: “Thousands of people defied the rain in Sydney to attend the Surry Hills rally.”

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'WARMIES BRING THE COLD'
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LOSERS UNITED

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (3:22am)

Even after they’ve both left politics, the rivalry continues between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. Now the battle is over their legacy. Specifically, the question is: which of these two is Australia’s worst prime minister?

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'LOSERS UNITED'
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DEPENDS ON THE HOUSE

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (3:07am)

Left-wing special needs project Antony Loewenstein claims popularity in Perth: 
I launched my book Profits of Doom at Curtin University in Perth on 29 November to a packed house… 
That’s just ducky, but “packed house” isn’t exactly a standard unit of measurement. For example, Justice Clarence Thomas recently ”drew a packed house of more than 1,300 justices, judges, attorneys and law students”. Despite being the Nine Inch Nails, the Nine Inch Nails last week played to ”a packed house of roughly 4,000” in Texas. A ”packed house of 18,997” saw the LA Lakers lose to the Memphis Grizzlies. At Stanford, ”a packed house of 51,545” witnessed a home football victory. So how does Antony’s “packed house” compare? 
Close to 80 attendees came to the book launch at Curtin University … 
Via J.F. Beck. Incidentally, this may be Antony’s first visit to the west since he discovered a new desert there a couple of years ago.
UPDATE. Alert readers point out that ace reporter Loewenstein got the date of his own book launch wrong.
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OUR CARBON TAX

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (2:21am)

The Sydney Morning Herald‘s Ben Cubby rejoices over yesterday’s climate cuddling: 
Interestng that, at their peak, the “axe the carbon tax” people could only get about 10% of the numbers of the ?#climateaction? rallies. 
I guess that explains why Labor and the Greens increased their vote so massively on September 7. Yesterday’s placards included a heartbreaking plea for Tony Abbott to take his hands off ”our carbon tax”, which tells you all you need to know about these people. A couple of further highlights:

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Seems that our carbon tax isn’t doing much. It also seems as though a certain evil word from the anti-tax rallies has been reclaimed:

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“Bitches” is an impressive touch, but what really makes this placard sing is the sheer Asperger’s level of data. This kid should run Labor’s next election campaign.
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EARLY OODLES

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (1:34am)

“How Do You Ski if There Is No Snow?” the New York Times asked in 2007, at the peak of warmy mania. Six years later, it’s a question nobody needs to answer: 
One half of North America’s largest ski area will open this weekend, thirteen days ahead of schedule …
A statement from Whistler said: “Thanks to oodles of snow, Whistler Mountain will open 13 days early this season. Whistler is renowned, season upon season, for being the number one ski resort for guaranteed snow – lots of it – and this winter will be no exception.”
A number of resorts are already open in North America and Europe, including Obergurgl in Austria, which opened today, and Cairngorm Mountain in Scotland which opened last weekend, its earliest start since 2008. 
(Via the Indomitable Snowman, Ph.D., and Roger B.)
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NOTE TO PHONE FANS

Tim Blair – Monday, November 18, 2013 (1:16am)

This site is currently invisible to mobile phone users, probably because of climate change. Other Telegraph sites are similarly afflicted.
Technicians are working on a fix. Or a tax. Updates to follow.
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Why didn’t The Age include Gillard in their expenses coverage?

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (2:59pm)


The Age has had a jihad against the Abbott Government. Take its one-eyed attack on the use of VIP flights by Liberals in the former Howard Government:

Senior figures in the Abbott government were among those who enjoyed ‘’free’’ travel on VIP military aircraft to fly to Canberra for parliamentary sitting weeks, amassing a taxpayer bill of more than $2 million, Defence Department records reveal.
Former ministers in the Howard government including Peter Costello, Nick Minchin and Amanda Vanstone used ‘’special purpose’’ VIP military flights to commute to Canberra with private staff members, despite having unlimited business-class air travel with Qantas as part of their ministerial perks…
Beyond prime ministerial travel - including then acting prime minister Wayne Swan’s trip to the 2010 NRL and AFL grand finals - Fairfax Media could not find systemic use of VIP jets by Labor MPs during the Rudd and Gillard governments.

Yet today another Fairfax paper, in a report on how Julia Gillard plotted to topple Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, reveals this:

Martin Ferguson says she first approached him to test his support on Sunday, June 20, 2010, three days before her challenge to Rudd. They shared a VIP flight from Melbourne to Canberra. They were the only passengers.
“All the way from Melbourne to Canberra, she tried to inveigle me into her plan,” says Ferguson, then the minister for resources and energy in the Rudd Cabinet.
Reader Barry writes to Media Watch:

Dear MediaWatch,

On October 27 this year Fairfax Media published a front page story attacking former Howard Government Ministers for using VIP flights when commercial flights were available. In the story, Fairfax said they could find no systematic use of VIP jets by Rudd-Gillard Ministers.

The email trail below with the Fairfax reporter for the story is self-explanatory. It shows that Labor Ministers Martin Ferguson and Julia Gillard have conceded that they took a VIP flight as ministers and that this was overlooked because the reporter believed Julia Gillard was Prime Minister at the time (and therefore exempt from normal entitlement provisions). She was not Prime Minister…

This warrants examination by Media Watch.

Kind regards,
Barry
The emails:
Email to Mark Hawthorne, The Age, 18 November 2013 
Hi Mark,

You both made a very big deal about former Howard Government Ministers using VIP jets to fly from Melbourne to Canberra when commercial flights were available.

I’m wondering whether you will be similarly outraged by Martin Ferguson’s revelation in Fairfax media today that he and Julia Gillard got a VIP flight from Melbourne to Canberra on Sunday 20 June 2010 and that they were the only passengers on board?

Fairfax reports today that:

Martin Ferguson says she (Gillard) first approached him to test his support on Sunday, June 20, 2010, three days before her challenge to Rudd. They shared a VIP flight from Melbourne to Canberra. They were the only passengers.

“All the way from Melbourne to Canberra, she tried to inveigle me into her plan,” says Ferguson, then the minister for resources and energy in the Rudd Cabinet.

I look forward to your front page coverage of Labor’s “misuse” of VIP flights.

Cheers,
Barry
Email from Mark Hawthorne 18 Nov 2013


Hi Barry

Thanks for the email.

The regulations governing the use of VIP flights are quite explicit when it comes to the Prime Minister, who gets to military rather than domestic flights without restriction.

In writing our stories we have not included or mentioned the hundreds of VIP flights taken by John Howard for that very reason - the rules are different for the PM.

We also spent hours trawling through Defence records pertaining to cabinet use of VIP aircraft during the Rudd-Gillard years.

Thanks for the interest.

Mark
Email to Mark Hawthorne 18 Nov 2013


Thanks Mark,

She wasn’t the Prime Minister. She was canvassing Ferguson to become PM on the VIP flight. That flight would have flown empty on a Sunday to pick them up and return them to Canberra.

Ferguson has fessed up that Labor did precisely what you condemned Costello, Vanstone etc for.

Cheers,
Barry 

Email from Mark Hawthorne 18 Nov 2013

Apologies Barry - just checked the dates, out by 4 days

Mark

Mark Hawthorne

Senior Editor

The Age
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Indon deputy speaker threatens Australia with “1000 hackers”

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (2:19pm)


Excuse me?
Indonesian hackers, linked to the global cyber-activist network Anonymous, launched their first salvo last week, which included hacking the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) website between Nov. 8 and 11.
Indonesian hackers, grouped under Anonymous Indonesia,… claimed they had defaced more than 100 Australian sites in protest at Australia’s alleged role in US-led spying activities in Indonesia..
Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring has condemned the attacks by the Indonesian hackers, saying that hacking was a crime and that it violated the Information Technology Law.
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, however, supported the attacks saying that he would “initiate the pooling of 1,000 hackers to paralyze Australian websites”.
(Thanks to reader Peter.) 
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Attention Labor: there was an election

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (2:06pm)


Good line from Barnaby Joyce in Question Time, attacking Labor for resisting the Coalition’s mandate for change:

...government change deniers 
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Only one of these people thought they could stop Nature

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (12:10pm)


Spot the only person who wasn’t deluded about man’s power:
One thousand years ago:

image
Yesterday:

image
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A Fairfax journalist admits he wants Abbott’s boat policies to fail

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (11:44am)

Boat people policy, Media

In today’s column I asked:

Which raises this suspicion: Labor and its media allies really want the Abbott Government to fail.
You thought me too harsh?
At least one of the journalists demanding the Coalition release information helpful to people smugglers is honest. Take a bow, Jack Waterford, of Fairfax’s Canberra Times:
There are many people, including me, who want to see our shameful policies fail. 
Of course, if those policies fail, more people will drown but what does Waterford care of the consequences?
Still, credit to Waterford. Now for more journalists to admit they, too, would rather boat people drown than Abbott succeed.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
UPDATE
Journalists from the Guardian Australia and the ABC go a long way to sabotaging the boat people policy by revealing Australia (note: under the Rudd Government) monitored the phone calls of even the Indonesian president and his wife:
Material leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals that Australia’s intelligence gathering in Indonesia has gone all the way to the president.
Documents obtained by the ABC and Guardian Australia, from material leaked by the former contractor at the US National Security Agency, show that Australian intelligence attempted to listen in to president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s telephone conversations on at least one occasion.
The documents also show that they tracked the activity on his mobile phone for 15 days in August 2009.
The top-secret documents are from Australia’s electronic intelligence agency, the Defence Signals Directorate (now called the Australian Signals Directorate)…
They show that Australian intelligence actively sought a long-term strategy to continue to monitor the president’s mobile phone activity.
The surveillance targets also included senior figures in his inner circle and even the president’s wife Kristiani Herawati (also known as Ani Yudhoyono). Also on the list of targets is the vice president Boediono, the former vice president Yussuf Kalla, the foreign affairs spokesman, the security minister and the information minister.
Rudd and his Ministers should take the blame for the inevitable fall out.
But guess who the media will gun for instead? Oh, and the answer is not “the media”. 
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Climate protesters want rain to stop. Or something

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (10:59am)


2007:

SALLY SARA: ...Professor Tim Flannery has warned climate change will impact on Australia to the point where Sydney can expect to receive 60 per cent less rainfall than it does at present…
PROFESSOR TIM FLANNERY: We’re already seeing the initial impacts and they include a decline in the winter rainfall zone across southern Australia, which is clearly an impact of climate change, but also a decrease in run-off. Although we’re getting say a 20 per cent decrease in rainfall in some areas of Australia, that’s translating to a 60 per cent decrease in the run-off into the dams and rivers. That’s because the soil is warmer because of global warming and the plants are under more stress and therefore using more moisture. So even the rain that falls isn’t actually going to fill our dams and our river systems…

2013:

Under a sea of umbrellas and ponchos up to 10,000 protesters gathered in rainy Sydney to demand action by the federal government on climate change.
Er, are they for it or against it?

image
UPDATE
Sydney dam levels today: 90.1 per cent.
No mention by the Sydney Morning Herald’s environment editor of Flannery’s dud prediction:


Sydney has notched up its wettest November week in 26 years with rain gauges set for more top-ups in coming days...

UPDATE
A characteristic of the global warming scare is the phenomenon of people seeing far, far more in something that is in truth quite insignificant:

image
(Thanks to reader mem.)
UPDATE
Reader Dougal:
0.0026% of the population turn out to protest over an invisible odourless gas that comprises 0.038% of the atmosphere and which man contributes 0.001%. The word ‘insignificant’ springs to mind.
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Labor and the media want the boats to keep coming

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (10:31am)

Boat people policy

WHOSE side is Labor and its media mates on? The people smugglers or those trying to stop them?
For two months journalists have attacked Immigration Minister Scott Morrison for not instantly telling them how and when boats have been intercepted, and who was on board.
Every press conference, it’s the same tantrum. “Minister, are you hiding the boats, not stopping them? We’re not being told when a boat is turned back.”
On Thursday, the Senate backed the journalists, with the Greens and Labor demanding Scott release such information within 24 hours of each boat being intercepted.
He also had to reveal the passengers’ nationalities and where they were picked up.
Yet the best military brains, past and present, say this information can only help people smugglers.
Which raises this suspicion: Labor and its media allies really want the Abbott Government to fail.
(Read full article here.) 
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Union theft claim queried

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (9:38am)


Reader Incitatus on a claim we linked to about unionists’ thefts leading to the deaths of American airmen in World War 2:
I was very interested in Hal Colebatch’s book on Trade Unions and WW2 and ordered it. I was particularly interested in the story of the 16 American Vultee Vengeances lost returning from Rabaul that he used in his Introduction. I asked some American friends on line and they were appalled. However they quickly came back and said the Americans never flew the Vultee Vengeance in combat and a few days later they said, no USAAF, USN, USMC squadron was ever lost in the circumstances described.
The actual story is on the 15 January 1945, the RNZAF lost 7 Corsair fighters from a group returning to Green Island from a mission to Rabaul, they flew into a storm. The link is here
Colebatch’s “story” is wrong on so many levels. He starts with the wrong Australian Radar Unit. He states the 317 Radar Unit when in fact it was the 311 Radar Unit on Green Island. The source is the same sources he uses for his “proof”, the memories of a man called Tolhurst. P114-115, The link is here.
He has the wrong country, the wrong aircraft and the wrong losses. The ponderous statement about the contempt the American’s had is also clearly false as it never happened to the Americans. With his “witnesses” (AHearn and Tolhurst), so demonstrably wrong on every salient detail, his contention that the radar valves were stolen by dock workers must also be called into question.
More information here. 
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Our money saved from green conference-goers

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (9:32am)


No to green carpetbaggers:

TONY Abbott has opposed plans by Commonwealth leaders to set up a climate change fund for impoverished member states to help them tackle the effects of global warming.
The final communique of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, released in Colombo last night, revealed that both Australia and Canada objected to the decision to establish a Capital Green Fund for smaller states and struggling African nations
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When will the Government restore balance to the ABC?

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (8:40am)


Since it was created, the ABC’s Fact Check unit has shown a decided preference for fact-checking the Coalition - going through 27 Coalition claims to Labor’s 21.
The Greens largely get a pass. Just four of its claims have ever been checked. Indeed, the ABC has not even bothered to fact check two of the Greens most outrageously false claims - that the NSW fires and Philippines typhoon were evidence of global warming and Tony Abbott would make both worse.
I really don’t know how much longer the Coalition can dodge its duty to restore balance to this out-of-control organisation.
UPDATE
Reader Andrew notes the ABC coverage of GetUp and Labor’s climate action day yesterday, using a GetUp picture and GetUp spin to hype clearly pathetic GetUp crowd in Brisbane:

image
The ABC working towards its official merger as GetUp’s TV arm.
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The daily Fairfax Abbott-hate

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (8:36am)


The astonishing Fairfax jihad against the Abbott Government continues. Today’s menu of anti-Government attacks:

image
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ABC screams “denier”. Another debate stifled

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (8:29am)


THE ABC has a new topic on which no debate is allowed. Try, and you’re denounced as a “denier”. God, I’m sick of these attacks on reason.
Demonstrate that the “stolen generations” is a myth are you’re a “racist”.
Point out that the world has failed to warm as global warming activists claimed and you’re a “climate change denier”.
Now this, from the ABC on the weekend: “One of the world’s most vocal Armenian genocide deniers will make an address at Parliament House in Canberra next week.”
(Read full article here.) 
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Shorten shouldn’t die for a cause he doesn’t believe in

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (8:06am)


Labor insiders assure me Labor leader Bill Shorten knows the carbon tax is bad policy and should go.
But they say he has judged he has no option but to demand the tax stay unless it’s replaced by an emissions trading scheme - which is actually itself a tax and won’t be agreed to by the Government anyway. The hope is that when the tax is repealed anyway by the next Senate the issue will be over for Shorten. The fear is that if Shorten dumps the tax now, he will be portrayed by the media as a man without convictions - and the Labor Left will tear him down.
Shorten knows better than I do how his party would react to him dumping the tax.
But I still think he is making one serious strategic error and one emotional one.
The strategic error: to think the issue dies with the tax next year. In fact, Shorten will be blamed for having made Australians pay more carbon tax than they needed to, and will be attacked as planning to bring back the carbon tax and the chaos if he wins the next election. Even if he then changes his mind and says he won’t give us a carbon tax if elected, who then will believe him?
Now the emotional error: Shorten is more likely to lose his bid to be prime minister than he is to win it. When he is defeated, what would be prefer: that he fell because he pushed a carbon tax he didn’t believe in, or fell because he argued for what was right?
I doubt the Left would be able to destroy him this side of the election. The trauma of replacing past leaders is too fresh, and the rule changes since adopted by Labor give Shorten job security for the next three years.
I’d go for it.    
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Julia Gillard’s lies exposed by Kim Carr and Martin Ferguson

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (7:42am)


Remember Julia Gillard’s deceptive evasions in the Four Corners interview in February 2012?
ANDREW FOWLER: The plotters ... commissioned their own polling report… The report compared the popularity of Julia Gillard versus Kevin Rudd. And the plotters used it to persuade - even pressure - the final waverers in the ALP caucus that they couldn’t win with Kevin Rudd.
Four Corners has obtained a copy of the secret internal report. It tracked polling on the comparative popularity of the Prime Minister and his Deputy… The report included negative focus group comments on Rudd, and critically showed Gillard’s popularity to be now higher than the Prime Minister’s. One Labor insider told us it was “a gross manipulation” and “an important ploy”, designed to boost the campaign to install Gillard as Prime Minister.
(To Julia Gillard) We’ve been told that internal Labor Party polling in the week before Rudd was removed, that polling was done comparing you with Kevin Rudd.
JULIA GILLARD: Well, as uh…
ANDREW FOWLER: Did you see that polling?
JULIA GILLARD: Look as Deputy Prime Minister and before that as Deputy Opposition Leader, of course I saw ALP polling. Saw it consistently, saw it over time, saw it…
ANDREW FOWLER: Did you specifically see polling in the week before Rudd’s removal, which compared your popularity with his?
JULIA GILLARD: Look, I’ve seen party polling over a long…
ANDREW FOWLER: But did you specifically see, did you specifically see the polling…
JULIA GILLARD: ...I’m answering… I’m answering your question. I can’t summon to mind details of polling that I may have seen at that time… I don’t have specific recall of pages of party polling at that time. It may have included what you say. I don’t have specific recall of it.
Remember this false claim to Four Corners?

And the truth is I made a decision to run for prime minister on the day I walked into Kevin Rudd’s office and asked him for a ballot. I did not make that decision at any time earlier.
Now more proof that Gillard lied:

The day before Julia Gillard challenged Kevin Rudd for the prime ministership, she met one of her key lieutenants, Kim Carr, in her office… He was at the centre of events as one of Gillard’s numbers men, and his account is fundamentally at odds with Gillard’s and that of the other coup organisers.
“At 11.30am on the Tuesday, June 22, 2010, Julia called me to her office to discuss the leadership change. She told me we were sleepwalking to defeat,” says Carr after consulting his notes of the meeting. “She showed me polling that suggested she’d make a better leader. She asked me whether I thought a change to her would be beneficial for the government and asked me to take it away and study it. She asked me to find out how deep feelings were in the caucus.
“The next day’’, says Carr, “I approached Senator Mark Arbib”, the principal architect of the coup and the leader of the NSW Right faction of the Labor party. “..;I was surprised to learn the extent of the preparations he had under way,” says Carr, the leader of the Victorian Socialist Left faction…
“The idea that the plot to unseat Kevin Rudd was only developed on the Wednesday is clearly untrue,” concludes Carr…
Martin Ferguson says she first approached him to test his support on Sunday, June 20, 2010, three days before her challenge to Rudd. They shared a VIP flight from Melbourne to Canberra…
“All the way from Melbourne to Canberra, she tried to inveigle me into her plan,” says Ferguson, then the minister for resources and energy in the Rudd Cabinet… “She said, ‘If you could see the polling you would see how much trouble we’re in’.”
Awkward facts for those now trying to present Gillard as a victim-saint. 
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Six hundred people at a meeting better held back in the Middle East

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (7:34am)


image
Again, the question is why we’ve allowed in people who in sentiment and even clothing declare themselves not of this society:
HUNDREDS of Muslims attending a community meeting in western Sydney were warned yesterday that they should refuse to co-operate with Australian governments and their agencies, including ASIO and the federal police.
The annual conference of Hizb ut-Tahrir heard speakers say the federal government had a covert plan to marginalise and suppress activist and traditionalist Islam under the guise of engagement and fostering harmony with moderates in the community…
In an address entitled Forging an Independent Path for the Community, speaker Wassim Doureihi told the 600-strong audience gathered in a hall in Sydney’s western suburbs that many Muslims had been cowed by the federal government and its agencies into abandoning traditional and activist Islam. “Out of defeatism, they crawl to the doors of the government,” he said.
He added that those imams and other Muslim community leaders who co-operated with the government lent legitimacy to what Mr Doureihi claimed was Canberra’s campaign against Muslims at home and abroad. “They sit at the table with those who are waging war against Muslims,” he said.
Six hundred?  
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Hundreds of millions wasted on mere feel-goods

Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (5:22am)


How much money has be wasted on how many pie-in-the-sky schemes?

The head of the Indigenous Land Corporation has accused her own organisation of presiding over ‘’perhaps the largest single evaporation of public money in the indigenous policy domain, ever’’.
Aboriginal leader Dawn Casey, the chairwoman of the corporation, has questioned the sense of its $320 million purchase of the Ayers Rock Resort, the group of five hotels that look onto Uluru.
A report by auditor Deloitte has identified a breakdown of corporate governance in the 2010 acquisition, championed by some of the most influential figures in business and politics, including David Baffsky, a stalwart of the tourism industry - and until last month a longtime member of the corporation’s board- and the Labor powerbroker Mark Arbib, the former minister for indigenous employment.
Three years later, amid a downturn in flights and tourism into the Northern Territory, the value of the resort has been slashed by $62 million, with a further downward adjustment expected from an official valuation under way.

The corporation has $200 million in debts… Dr Casey, who became chairwoman in October 2011, said the decade of interest payments - which she believes will push the total cost of the purchase past $400 million - should be considered in judging the success of the venture.
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Mick, from Dublin , appeared on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and towards the end of the program had already won 500,000 euros. 

"You've done very well so far," said the show's presenter, "but for a million euros you've only got one life-line left, phone a friend. Everything is riding on this question. Will you go for it?"

"Sure," said Mick. "I'll have a go!" 

"Which of the following birds does NOT build its own nest?
a) Sparrow
b) Thrush,
c) Magpie,
d) Cuckoo?"

"I haven't got a clue." said Mick,

''So I'll use my last lifeline and phone my friend Paddy back home in Dublin...."

Mick called up his mate, and told him the circumstances and repeated the question to him.

"Feckin' hell, Mick!" cried Paddy. "Dat's simple it's a cuckoo."

"Are ye sure?"

"I'm feckin' sure."

Mick hung up the phone and told Chris, "I'll go with cuckoo as my answer."

"Is that your final answer?" asked Chris.

"Dat it is."

There was a long, long pause and then the presenter screamed, "Cuckoo is the correct answer! Mick, you've won 1 million euros!"

The next night, Mick invited Paddy to their local pub to buy him a drink.

"Tell me, Paddy? How in Heaven’s name did you know it was da Cuckoo that doesn't build its own nest?"

"Because he lives in a feckin' clock!"
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This Could Be One of the Best Cases Ever Made Against Common Core – No One Expected It to Come...
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/15/this-could-be-one-of-the-best-cases-ever-made-against-common-core-no-one-expected-it-to-come-from-a-high-school-student/
Speaking at a local school board meeting earlier this month, a Tennessee high school senior issued a brief and incredibly insightful address on the problems with Common Core standards. Ethan Young, a student at Farragut High School in Knox County, Tenn., made his case as to why he...
I agree that the core has issues, and this student is fingering them, but I don't feel he has nailed it. I have no problem with standards. There are regional preferences for things and this is something which exists with or without standards. There is greater diversity within a region than between regions. For me, the issue of a common core is the politicisation of educational material. Teaching AGW as fact is as disturbing to me as Intelligent Design. I prefer critical though to rigid structure. Core could be very useful, but it doesn't look it the way it is being implemented. Core could support individual teachers .. but at the moment it is a tool of a central government keen on building up. - ed===

"I am going to the Father, but I will always be with you." -Jesus
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Doctor Who - Steven Moffat on The Night of the Doctor
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Steven-Moffat-on-The-Night-Of-The-Doctor
The Night Of The Doctor is the new mini episode featuring the return of the Eighth Doctor… You can watch the adventure here ! We caught up with its writer, Steven Moffat, and asked him about the Time War, the Sisterhood of Karn and...
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Mega Flicks had the same problem with their signs - ed
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The force is strong with this one - ed
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David Bowles
If for some strange reason you're up at 5 am tomorrow in the RGV and you feel like listening to me talk in Spanish about my work, tune in to Univisión 48. During the "Alegre Despertar" program, I'll be interviewed about...stuff. Sintonicen.
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Neurologist claims grains are destroying our brains
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/neurologist-claims-grains-are-destroying-our-brains/story-fneuzkvr-1226762490985
IF you had cereal for breakfast or just scoffed a sandwich for lunch, maybe don't read this. Because grains are destroying your brain, according to this doctor.
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http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/govt-could-be-stuck-with-climate-building/story-e6frfku9-1226762616685
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http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/chinese-male-model-liang-chao-uses-fake-photos-to-lure-wife/story-fnet09p2-1226762166701
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Hmm. Now which government was in power in 2009? Not that anyone should get on their moral high horse over spying - all countries do it.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-tried-to-tap-indonesian-presidents-personal-phone-20131118-2xqb8.html
Considering that special relationship ALP talk of, they might have just asked, without listening in. - ed===

Max Brenner Australia
Max's 12 Step Chocoholics Program: Never be more than 12 steps away from chocolate!
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California man caught on camera drugging and raping A DOG
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2508641/California-man-caught-camera-drugging-raping-A-DOG.html
A California man was arrested Thursday and charged with drugging and raping a dog multiple times. Security footage shows the pervert committing his depraved acts on an 80-pound Akita.
It is just wrong. - ed
===
Advertisers Should Just Quit. Nothing Will Ever Top This Volvo Commercial
http://distractify.com/people/amazing/the-epic-split-featuring-van-damme/
This makes me want to sell my house and buy a Volvo truck.
Wow .. Volvo cars are still boring .. ed
===
"National Day of Climate Action" a stunning success already. Just a tip, the poor dears should just move to a marginal seat instead of signing petitions and banging on bongo drums. 

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=925424&vId=4231911&cId=Top+Stories&play=true
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Lefties. When they're not busy laying guilt trips on the public, they're always confusing loud organized mobs with the silent majority.

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/climate_protesters_want_rain_to_stop_or_something/
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Re-uploading today's tornado from Long Point, IL around 11:45am earlier today. Had the wrong date on it. This tornado rapidly approached our position dropping baseballs in its path. The feeling of dread seeing this monster approach at such speed is still palpable.
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Obama Refuses to Speak to Netanyahu
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174090
In latest twist in public US-Israel relations fallout, Obama has been forwarding all of Netanyahu's calls to John Kerry.
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<I shall be attending an inspection this weekend of 9 Metford Street, Altona, Melbourne. I look forward to favourable discussions with its owner Julia Eileen Gillard and a mutually favourable settlement. Conveyancing on the house.>

http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/House/VIC/Altona/?adid=2010837024===

This picture confirmed from in Washington, IL via Chris Khoury (@ChrisKhoury) on Twitter.. Safe to say a violent tornado hit here... Trees mangled, slabs remaining, debris scattering... Horrid..
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Nice mistake, al-Qaeda groups in Syria Beheaded one of their own Leaders by mistake.
I guess it was what he wanted - ed
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StylePantry
This is so clever. Instead of shoes piling up by the door, here's a creative way to avoid clutter.
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Current Gallery on all Photographs

Please click on below link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/307958525882739/photos/

Jewellery & Gemstone Gallery

Colour your world with gemstones !

A Gallery of Jewellery, Diamond News,Gems & Gemology promoted bywww.diamondimports.com.au
===

Circa 1990's VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Diamond and Red Pear Ruby, Yellow Gold Ring
4 her - ed
===
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2013

New York Times Photo Outrage

NY Times Magnifying Glass

The NY Times twists its knife in the back of the Jewish state by publishing a photo of a terrorist's mother in preference to an image of a murdered Israeli soldier. Read more...

German Cartoon Demonizes Israel - On Kristallnacht Anniversary

German Cartoon

Another German newspaper faces allegations of anti-Semitism over a nasty cartoon. Once again, Israel is poisoning peace. Read more...

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This Hanukkah, Turn Terror Into Light
 
 Watch how one Israeli artist turns Hamas Rockets into beautiful Hanukkah Menorahs
Watch how one Israeli artist turns Hamas Rockets into Hanukkah Menorahs 		The Sderot Menorah
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Make this Hanukkah extra special by lighting the Sderot Menorah in your home. Made entirely from kassam rockets that landed in Israel, its intricate detail and beauty are powerful symbols of the endurance of the Jewish People. The Sderot Menorah demonstrates the triumph of good over evil and the light of Israel over the darkness of terror.

Each menorah is hand made by Israeli artist Yaron Bob. His metal art sculptures and menorahs create beauty from ashes and transform objects of war into expressions of peace and hope. In addition, a portion of every purchase will be donated to build bomb shelters and protect the lives the nearly one million residents of Israel living under daily threat of rocket attacks from Gaza. 
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Events[edit]

Births[edit]

Deaths[edit]

Holidays and observances[edit]

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Ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, damaged in the Battle of Berlin
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“×  Nun Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"To whom be glory forever. Amen"
Romans 11:36
"To whom be glory forever." This should be the single desire of the Christian. All other wishes must be subservient and tributary to this one. The Christian may wish for prosperity in his business, but only so far as it may help him to promote this--"To him be glory forever." He may desire to attain more gifts and more graces, but it should only be that "To him may be glory forever." You are not acting as you ought to do when you are moved by any other motive than a single eye to your Lord's glory. As a Christian, you are "of God, and through God," then live "to God." Let nothing ever set your heart beating so mightily as love to him. Let this ambition fire your soul; be this the foundation of every enterprise upon which you enter, and this your sustaining motive whenever your zeal would grow chill; make God your only object. Depend upon it, where self begins sorrow begins; but if God be my supreme delight and only object,
"To me 'tis equal whether love ordain
My life or death--appoint me ease or pain."
Let your desire for God's glory be a growing desire. You blessed him in your youth, do not be content with such praises as you gave him then. Has God prospered you in business? Give him more as he has given you more. Has God given you experience? Praise him by stronger faith than you exercised at first. Does your knowledge grow? Then sing more sweetly. Do you enjoy happier times than you once had? Have you been restored from sickness, and has your sorrow been turned into peace and joy? Then give him more music; put more coals and more sweet frankincense into the censer of your praise. Practically in your life give him honour, putting the "Amen" to this doxology to your great and gracious Lord, by your own individual service and increasing holiness.

Evening

"He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby."
Ecclesiastes 10:9
Oppressors may get their will of poor and needy men as easily as they can split logs of wood, but they had better mind, for it is a dangerous business, and a splinter from a tree has often killed the woodman. Jesus is persecuted in every injured saint, and he is mighty to avenge his beloved ones. Success in treading down the poor and needy is a thing to be trembled at: if there be no danger to persecutors here there will be great danger hereafter.
To cleave wood is a common every-day business, and yet it has its dangers; so then, reader, there are dangers connected with your calling and daily life which it will be well for you to be aware of. We refer not to hazards by flood and field, or by disease and sudden death, but to perils of a spiritual sort. Your occupation may be as humble as log splitting, and yet the devil can tempt you in it. You may be a domestic servant, a farm labourer, or a mechanic, and you may be greatly screened from temptations to the grosser vices, and yet some secret sin may do you damage. Those who dwell at home, and mingle not with the rough world, may yet be endangered by their very seclusion. Nowhere is he safe who thinks himself so. Pride may enter a poor man's heart; avarice may reign in a cottager's bosom; uncleanness may venture into the quietest home; and anger, and envy, and malice may insinuate themselves into the most rural abode. Even in speaking a few words to a servant we may sin; a little purchase at a shop may be the first link in a chain of temptations; the mere looking out of a window may be the beginning of evil. O Lord, how exposed we are! How shall we be secured! To keep ourselves is work too hard for us: only thou thyself art able to preserve us in such a world of evils. Spread thy wings over us, and we, like little chickens, will cower down beneath thee, and feel ourselves safe!
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Today's reading: Ezekiel 5-7, Hebrews 12 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 5-7

God’s Razor of Judgment
1 “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. 2 When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword. 3 But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment. 4 Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.
5 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.

Today's New Testament reading: Hebrews 12

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son....”
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Peter

[PÄ“'tûr] - a rock or stone. The Greek form of the Aramaic surname, Cephas. Peter was the brother of Andrew and the son of Jona, or Johanan (Matt. 4:18; John 1:40; 1 Cor. 1:12).

The Man Who Fell but Rose Again

Peter is another of those outstanding characters in the Bible gallery of men, requiring a book all his own to fully expound his life and labors. From the many references to this reed transformed into a rock , we gather these facts and features of "The Big Fisherman."
He was a fisherman of Bethsaida, a name meaning "the house of fish." Afterwards he resided in Capernaum, where Jesus frequently lodged during His Galilean ministry.
His father was Jona, or Jonah, and Andrew was his brother. Both sons were fishermen on the Lake of Galilee and were evidently in partnership with Zebedee and his sons.
He first met Christ at Bethany beyond Jordan, where John the Baptist exercised his ministry. Both Peter and Andrew were disciples of the Baptist. It was Andrew who introduced Peter to Christ.
He received a triple call as friend, disciple and apostle. Through daily contact with Jesus, seeing and hearing His words and works, Peter's character was deepened and strengthened.
He was a man with many facets of character. His life can be approached from many angles. He was naturally impulsive (Matt. 14:28; 17:4; John 21:7); tenderhearted and affectionate (Matt. 26:75; John 13:9; 21:15-17); gifted with spiritual insight (John 6:68), yet sometimes slow to apprehend deeper truths (Matt. 15:15, 16); courageous in his confession of faith in Christ, yet guilty of a most cowardly denial (Matt. 16:16; John 6:69; Mark 14:67-71); self-sacrificing yet inclined towards self-seeking (Matt. 19:27), and presumption (Matt. 16:22; John 13:8; 18:10); immovable in his convictions (Acts 4:19, 20; 5:28, 29, 40, 42).
He became the leader and spokesman of the Apostolic Twelve and of the three privileged to witness the raising of Jairus'daughter, the Transfiguration, our Lord's agony in the Garden. He himself became a miracle worker, especially during the time portrayed in Acts.
He made a confession of Christ's deity which became the foundation of the Church, and was appointed steward with authority of the keys, meaning that his was to be the privilege of opening the door of salvation to the Jews.
He miserably failed his Lord in an hour of crisis, being the only disciple to deny Christ, yet he was restored and recommissioned by Jesus after His resurrection. He became the dauntless leader of the infant Church and was foremost to protest his loyalty to Christ. After Pentecost, Peter's ministry appears in four stages:
I. Jerusalem activities, 29-35 a.d., when James eventually succeeded to leadership of the Church.
II. Palestinean mission, 35-44 a.d. , during which he remained for a while at Lydda and Joppa. He received a call to Caesarea, and in the house of Cornelius opened the door of privilege to the Gentiles.
III. Syrian mission with Antioch as a center, 44-61 a.d., during which he was accompanied by his wife, who became the pioneer Zenana missionary.
IV. Rome, 61 a.d. It would seem as if Peter reached here before Paul's release from his first imprisonment, and a few years later suffered martyrdom by crucifixion, as Christ prophesied he would. Legend has it that Peter deemed himself unworthy to die in exactly the same way as his Lord had, and so begged his crucifiers to crucify him upside down.
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November 17, 2011
To Forgive or Not Forgive
Today's Truth
But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done (1 John 1:9, NCV).
Friend to Friend
Music has always been an important part of my life. In fact, I attended college on a music scholarship. The piano was my main instrument, but I also wanted to be a guitarist. Since I had played the piano for so many years, the musical challenge of playing the guitar was not my problem. It was my fingers. After two guitar lessons from a very patient friend and several hours of practicing, my fingertips were sore and raw to the point of bleeding. When I asked my friend what I was doing wrong, he just laughed and held out his hands, showing me the rough calluses on his own fingers. "When I began playing the guitar, my fingers were just as sore and raw as yours are now. Just keep playing, and your fingers will eventually develop calluses and it won't hurt to play," he explained.
Sin works the same way. The first time we commit a sin it really bothers us. We feel guilty and mourn the fact that we have grieved the heart of God. However, if we allow sin to settle into our lives by refusing to confess it, that sin hardens our heart and builds spiritual calluses in our soul. When we become comfortable with our sin, we are walking in enemy territory and setting ourselves up for spiritual discouragement and failure.
1 John 1:9 says "But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done" (NCV).
This verse was written to believers as an encouragement to deal with sin and a promise that when we do so, God will be faithful to forgive us and clean up the mess that sin has caused. To fully experience the forgiveness of God, we need to keep short books on sin. That not only means being sensitive to sin but being willing to do something about it. God is serious about sin. We need to be as well.
  1. We must confess sin continually. "Confess" means to agree with. It is a present tense verb meaning we must confess sin frequently - without stopping. Doing so makes us more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and creates a hunger and thirst for righteousness.
  2. We must confess sin completely. We commit individual sins. We need to confess them one-by-one and learn to be authentic and transparent when dealing with the sin in our lives.
  3. We must confess sin confidently. Once we confess our sins, we can put them behind us. God is just and fair -- seeking only one payment for sin. Jesus has already made that full and complete payment with His death on the cross. If we refuse to forgive ourselves, we are saying that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough. I love the story of a little boy standing in front of the Washington Monument. "I want to buy it, and I have a quarter," he told the guard. "That's not enough," the guard said. The little boy replied, "I thought you would say that," pulling nine more cents out of his pocket. The guard looked down at the small boy and said, "Son, you need to understand three things. First, thirty-four cents is not enough. Second, the Washington Monument is not for sale. And third, if you are an American citizen, the Washington Monument already belongs to you." We need to understand three things about God's forgiveness. We will never be good enough to deserve it. It is not for sale and we cannot earn it. But if we have a personal relationship with God, His forgiveness already belongs to us.
One of Satan's favorite tactics is to resurrect buried sin. Wrapping that confessed transgression in his vain taunts and useless accusations, the enemy hauls it back into focus, hoping guilt will paralyze and imprison a soul set free.
How often do we believe Satan's empty lies and choose to remain a prisoner of false guilt and condemnation? To break the hold of sin, we must stand against the enemy, choose to trust the Word of God and embrace the promise that when we confess sin, God forgives it.
Let's Pray
Father, do not let me ever forget the price You paid for my sin. Thank You for the forgiveness and freedom You purchased with Your death on the cross. Bring swift awareness and conviction to my heart and life when I sin. Give me the strength and power to deal with and turn from my sin.
In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.
Now It's Your Turn
Read and meditate on the following verses:
Matthew 5:23-24 (NLT) "So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you ... leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God."
Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV) "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Make a list of the sins in your life that need the forgiveness of God. Ask God to forgive you for each one. If you have sinned against someone else, take the first step of reconciliation. If someone has sinned against you, forgive them and go to them in love, seeking restoration.
What are the rewards of forgiveness?
What are the barriers to forgiveness in my heart?
What are the things for which I cannot forgive myself?
What does that indicate about my understanding of true forgiveness?
Celebrate right now the power of forgiveness in your life.
More from the Girlfriends
Already feeling the stress of the approaching holidays? Get Mary's book, Escaping the Stress Trap, for practical steps to dealing with and managing stress and check out her MP3, The Secret of a Merry Christmas. Need a friend? Connect with Mary on Facebook - or through email. Need help learning how to study the Bible? Join women across the world in Mary's weekly online Bible Study, Light for the Journey .
"I am flat broke and Christmas is just around the corner!" Do those words sound familiar? Don't let gift-giving become a chore instead of a joy. Get Mary's MP3 download - Giving the Perfect Gift - and discover how to give ten wonderful and inexpensive gifts.
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===
P31Header
Lysa TerKeurst
November 17, 2011
The Treasure of Thrown Away Food
Lysa TerKeurst
"But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)
If there was ever a secret for unleashing God's powerful peace, it's developing a heart of true thanksgiving. I came to understand this truth while reading a paper my son Jackson wrote.
His paper was about the corruption and greed that caused the civil war in his native land. You see, for the first 13 years of his life, Jackson lived in a forgotten orphanage in the third world country of Liberia, Africa. As I read, I noticed what a great job he had done recounting the facts of the story. But there was a difference in his paper. Jackson wasn't just explaining a historical event - he lived in the midst of the horrific conditions of this war.
During one part of the paper, he described what it felt like to be naked digging through the trash looking for the treasure of thrown away food.
The treasure of thrown away food.
I can hardly type those words without crying. This is my son.
And yet, despite the horrific conditions of his childhood there was an unexplainable thread of peace woven through his recollection of the story. A powerful peace centered in the awareness of God's presence.
The truly thankful person is a truly peaceful person. They have made a habit no matter what to notice, pause and choose.
Noticing something for which to be thankful no matter what circumstance they're in.
Pausing to acknowledge this something as a reminder of God's presence.
Choosing to focus on God's presence until His powerful peace is unleashed.
How can we be a noticer? A pauser? A chooser? A person of thanksgiving no matter what circumstance we're facing?
I find this truth about the power of thanksgiving over and over in Scripture. What was the prayer Daniel prayed right before being thrown in the lion's den and witnessing God miraculously shutting the lion's mouths? Thanksgiving.
After three days in the belly of a fish, what was the cry of Jonah's heart right before he was finally delivered onto dry land? Thanksgiving.
How are we instructed to pray in Philippians 4:6 when we feel anxious? With thanksgiving.
And what is the outcome of each of these situations where thanksgiving is proclaimed? Peace.
Powerful, unexplainable, uncontainable peace.
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7, NIV).
One of Webster's official definitions of thanksgiving is: "a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness."
I wonder how we might celebrate God's divine goodness today?
I wonder what might happen if we decide in the midst of our circumstances today to notice, pause and choose something for which we can truly be thankful....
Dear Lord, will You help me notice things for which I can be thankful in each circumstance I face today? Will You help me remember to pause and acknowledge this as evidence of Your presence? And will You help me remember to choose to focus on Your presence until Your powerful peace rushes into my heart and helps me see everything more clearly? Thank You for the reality that being thankful truly changes everything. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Lysa will be speaking in more than 40 cities this year.Click here to see her schedule. She would be honored to meet you!
Come see the downloadable Freebies on Lysa's website! Encouraging articles to help you process life through Biblical principles and perspectives that you can print and share with a friend! www.LysaTerKeurst.com
If you enjoy Lysa's devotions, be sure to sign up for notes of encouragement she sends out from her blog byclicking here. They are free and great for passing along to friends.
When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you touch eternity because your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. We wish we could, but we simply can't compete with prices offered by huge online warehouses. Therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us!
Application Steps:
Start a thankful journal where you daily list five things for which you are thankful. Do this for the next 30 days and see how much more peaceful your mindset about life becomes.
Reflections:
What makes me grumpy and steals my propensity to be thankful?
Think of someone who is really thankful. Despite the circumstances they face, are they more peaceful? How does this inspire me?
Power Verses:
1 Chronicles 16:34, "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." (NKJ)
1 Chronicles 23:30, "They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening." (NIV)
© 2011 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
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Why Did Jesus Need to Die?

Today's reading: Matthew 17:22-23
The paradox found in the Gospels gets as quizzical as it possibly can in Matthew 17:22-23. God was going to save the world through the death of his Son. God, in his divine nature, doesn't die. So how was God going to get this done? How was God going to be the Savior of the human race? He had to come to Earth as a human being to accomplish that task. And Jesus was the one to do it.
Jesus said in Matthew 20:28 that he "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." This is either the highest form of megalomania or it's an example of somebody who really believes, as he said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). It was as if Jesus was saying, "I have the authority to speak for the Father; I have the power to act for the Father; if you reject me, you've rejected the Father."
Even if you eliminated the Gospel of John and just read the Synoptic Gospels, this would still be the conclusion you would come to. And it is the conclusion that Jesus would have led us to if we had a Bible study and asked him this question. An astute Bible reader needs to ask, "Why is there no other first-century Jew who has millions of followers today? Why isn't there a John the Baptist movement? Why, of all first-century figures, including the Roman emperors, is Jesus still worshiped today, while the others have crumbled into the dust of history?" It's because this Jesus-the historical Jesus-is also the living Lord. He's still around, while the others are long gone.

Adapted from interview with Dr. Ben Witherington III.
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Today's reading is from theThe Case for Christ Study Bible
by Zondervan

Investigate the Bible's most compelling claims: the existence of a compassionate God and the promise of eternal life through His Son, Jesus.


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The Way God Intended

This week's reading: Song of Songs 8:6-7
This passage, perhaps as powerfully as any other in the entire Bible, defines and describes for modern readers God's intentions when he invented and defined the institution of marriage.
Marriage as a concept lies deep within our collective psyche. Preschoolers role-play the family unit as part of their playground fun. Preteen girls dream of the day when they'll walk down the aisle in a flowing white gown. Matchmaking businesses and Web sites thrive as people look for that elusive one perfect person to know and love for the rest of their lives. The vast majority of adults who live in Western cultures either are, have been or someday intend to be married. Such hopefulness in the face of a consistent 50 percent divorce rate! And yet, despite the well-publicized antics of the Hollywood set, marriage remains one of the key building blocks of family life and society as a whole.
And that's just what God intended. The language in this passage is powerful as it speaks to the implications of marriage. One scholar has said that this passage "characterizes marital love as the strongest, most unyielding and invincible force in human experience." Now that's saying something! Despite the failure of individuals, the bar of God's expectations for marriage is set sky-high. And note the implications of the last part of verse 7: True, lasting marital love involves deep integrity on the part of both parties. To paraphrase: "Money can't buy me love."
The power of marriage lies in the power of a promise, sealed with God's stamp of approval, that one man makes to one woman. The promise to love another person "until death do you part" is as deep a commitment as one can make in this life. As one pastor put it, "The power to make and keep a promise is one of the strongest in the world, for it brings the promise maker within a millimeter of what it means to be like God, who makes and keeps his promises to his people."
True, enduring, lifelong commitment is God's expectation for marriage, and it has been since the Garden of Eden. That's not to say that God expects us to be perfect as we relate to one another; we are, after all, still living under the effects of sin. But despite our failures, the goal for the respect we are to show toward the institution remains the same, "for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave" (Song of Songs 8:6).

To Take Away

  • Are you married? If you answered yes, how does your marriage stack up to God's expectations for the institution?
  • If you've never been married, what is your perspective on what this passage could mean for your future?
  • If you're not married now but have been in the past, how can this passage influence your opinions and actions?
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New Men's Devotional BibleToday's reading is from theNew Men's Devotional Bible
by Zondervan

The New Men's Devotional Biblehelps apply God's Word to a new generation of Christian men. It includes a full year of all-new devotions by well-known and not-so-well-known men of God.


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